Lunar Sabbath

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Thoughts on the Lunar Sabbath

-------------------------By Eugene Prewitt

In the last decade several persons have approached me with data that they understood to promote lunar Sabbath calculation. They believed that the weekly cycle gets a fresh start each month so that the Sabbath always falls on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th of a given lunar month.

Practically, this means that while there are generally seven days from Sabbath to Sabbath, there are eight or nine days between the 29th Sabbath and the next 8th Sabbath. The last of these days, the eighth and/or ninth day, as lunar Sabbath proponents understand, is a new moon day. As such it is not counted as a work week.

I have concluded that the data in support of this idea is faulty. Various parts of it are either speculative, strained, inference-based, or uninspired. Whether approached Biblically or from the Testimonies, the idea has not stood up to scrutiny.

The Assertions

First, let me summarize the nature of evidence that I have seen so far as given in support of the idea.

1. It is suggested that Sabbath falls on the 15th of three Biblical months in a row (the three months beginning with the Exodus from Egypt). As moon cycles are only 29.5 days long, the Sabbath could not fall on three of them in a row unless the Sabbath was lunar based.

2. It is asserted that no Sabbath in scripture can be shown to occur on any day other than an 8th, 15th, 22nd, or 29th of a lunar cycle. As only about 15% of Gregorian-style Sabbaths fall on those days, this is taken as corroborative evidence for lunar Sabbaths.

3. It is asserted that the lunar calendar was essential to the determination of the date October 22, 1844. As this calendar has been affirmed by Ellen White when she validated that date, it must be a valid calendar. And if the calendar is right for calculating feast-day dates, it must be right for calculating Sabbath dates as Sabbaths are among the feasts.

4. It is asserted that ancient authorities trace the seven-day week to Babylonian sources and that the Jews anciently kept the Sabbath on a lunar basis. This Jewish habit was changed by the Roman power and is the reason that Jews currently honor Saturday as found on the Gregorian calendar.

5. Circumstantial evidence, it is asserted, points to Lunar Sabbaths in the time of Joshua, Solomon, and Hezekiah, and Paul.

6. The New Moons do not count as “working days” and so there are still 6 working days in each weekly cycle in the new moon calendar.

While other thoughts have appeared here and there in lunar documentation, these are the ones that appear repeatedly in the documents I have read. What appears in not one of the documents is a “thus saith the Lord” teaching that new moons interrupt the weekly cycle.

The Evidence

The most intriguing argument, to me, in the six listed above was item number two. The word “Sabbath” appears more 100 passages of scripture. It seems, at first thought, that if not one of those can be shown to fall on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, etc., day of the month, then that would be fairly significant evidence in favor of the lunar Sabbath theory.

Here are the facts:

There are many passages that refer to the Sabbath in a precept in such a way as to provide no precise and certain information regarding the correlation of days with months. See Ex 20:8-11; De 5:12-15; Ex 31:14-16; Ex 35:2-3; Le 24:8; Nu 28:9-10; [Neh 9:14]; [1 Chr 9:32]; Ps 92:1; Amos 8:5; Jer 17:21-27; Is 56:2, 6; Is 58:13; Matthew 24:20; John 7:22-23; Colossians 2:16

There are only two stories in all of scripture that mention Sabbath in a context that can be dated in relation to a day of the lunar month. These are the giving of the Manna and the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. (Ex 16:23-29 and Mt 28:1; Mr. 15 42; 16:1; Lu 23:54-56; Jo 19:31.)

So how many Sabbath stories in scripture are datable? Two. This fact neutralizes the first two arguments. (In the appendix I address other passages that are asserted to be dateable correlations between the lunar calendar and days of the week.)

The third point, regarding the Lunar Calendar being used to establish October 22, is accurate as far as that goes. In other words, it is obviously true in scripture the feast days were calculated based on the Jewish lunar calendar.

But the extrapolation that says “if dates of the year must be calculated on an annual calendar, therefore days of the week must also be so calculated” is unwarranted. No prophet says anything of the kind. History does not back it up. Muslims today use a lunar calendar but keep a weekly day as honored. The argument is purely speculative.

The fourth point, strictly speaking, is not a Biblical one. But the history is faulty. The fact is that from the time of the book of Acts that there were Jews in “every city” that read the Torah on Sabbath.

Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

There is no way that one million Jews scattered all over the world could, simultaneously, be convinced to change their method of Sabbath keeping without abundant historical evidence being left behind to prove it.

But more than this, the gospel was carried to every part of the known world during the first century.

Colossians 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Lunar weeks predict that when the apostles traveled to India, Ethiopia, and the British Isles, that these places began keeping lunar Sabbaths. None of these were under the influence of Rome by the 3rd century. This is why they kept the Seventh-day Sabbath so many centuries after Rome had stopped.

And there is no way that Christians around the world, faithful Sabbath keepers, could be convinced to change their day of worship without it showing up in history. The change of the Sabbath to Sunday shows up abundantly in history and proves, by this very appearance, that the other change never occurred.

The fifth point is circumstantial. We do not want to ever turn an observation into a command. But even the observations are faulty as can be seen in the appendix where these stories are examined. If we were to admit circumstantial evidence we would have to observe that the first day of the month was not treated as holy in the following passages:

Genesis 8:13 Noah removed the covering of the ark, a great feat.Numbers 1:1 The men of Israel were counted on the first day of the week.Ezra 7:9 Ezra was traveling on two new moons.

The sixth point is based on a verse in Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 46:1 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

The reasoning goes like this: If the gate is shut on the six working days and open on the new moon, then the new moon can not be one of the six working days. And since it is not one of the six working days, it must not be part of the week.

The fault lies in the fact that the verse is a perfectly natural way to write even if the new moons did occur on random days of the week. The inference that lunar Sabbath proponents make is unwarranted. It would be similar in character to reading “God loves a cheerful giver” and concluding that God doesn’t love other grudging givers.

The Bible is brief and well written. We can not impose on it a demand that enough details be given to prevent us from making false inferences.

Rather, we should demand a “Thus Saith the Lord” for our articles of belief.

Summary and Settling the Issue

Not one of the six primary lines of evidence for lunar Sabbaths holds up under investigation. That could settle the issue for me. No evidence for a life-changing idea is evidence enough that it is false.

But there are some facts that settle the matter more substantially. Let us consider them.

1. The facts relating to the Mark of the Beast and the Seal of God demand that the issue be one easy to settle on the basis of scripture. Simple minded persons must be able to stake their life on the fact that they are right.

And simple minded persons the world over have flocked to the simple truth that showed their willingness to brave opposition to be faithful.

But the Lunar Sabbath theory is not one that can be traced to a command or a simple statement. It is complex, and this is a sign itself that there is something fishy about it.

2. The week began before the moon was created. This settles the fact that the week was not based on the lunar cycle.

3. The phrase “seven weeks” should be 49 days, or 51-52 days, depending on whether weeks are consecutive or lunar. Leveticus 23 and Daniel 9 both establish that seven weeks are 49 days.

4. The timing of the 1260 year prophecy (538-1798) is entirely too late for changing the nature of the week. When the papacy was established as a civil ruler of the Roman empire it began a historically documented assault on Sabbath keeping. That assault eventually changed the way churches from India to Ethiopia to Ireland related to the Sabbath.

5. Acts 20 does not harmonize with a Lunar Sabbath model. See Appendix A where this is discussed in detail. The short of it is that the “first day” of the week in Acts 20 follows the feast of unleavened bread; then “after” that, five days until arriving in Troas; then seven days in Troas. Even if the last of the five is the first of the seven days, even if the last of the seven days is the first day of the week, this still places the first day of the week on the third day of the month.

Ellen White on Lunar SabbathsEllen White makes a number of inspired statements that relate to the issue at hand. While the Bible truths discussed in this short article are sufficient to show the murky nature of the lunar-Sabbath teaching, it would be a mistake to think that Ellen White’s writings should not have a bearing.

How did God intend to protect the members of His church from cunning and crafty falsehoods? He does so by the spiritual gifts given to the church.

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; … 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

So the gift of prophecy was given, among other reasons, to preserve the church from being carried about with various false ideas.

God, in several statements of the Testimonies, uses the word “Friday” when telling us to prepare for the “Sabbath.” Ellen White writes, “Friday is the day of preparation.” (CG 528-529). “Friday is to be the special preparation day.” (CCh 263). And, in fact, “employers should give their workers the hours from Friday noon until the beginning of the Sabbath.”

And so far is this from being a modern innovation that “The Lord told [the Israelites that were cooking manna] that this work must be done on Friday, the preparation day.” (CCh 263). They were “obliged to gather every Friday a double portion of manna in preparation for the Sabbath.” (PP 297). On a lunar calendar Friday would only rarely be the day to prepare for the Sabbath.

And in like manner, Ellen White identifies the day of Christ’s burial as “Friday.” (Ctr 295.) This makes the Sabbath of Christ’s day in the grave a Saturday and mutes the testimony of that Sabbath also being the 15th of the lunar month.

The Great Controversy also testifies that in every age there were keepers of the true Sabbath. (GC 61). Even those that were early regarding Sunday as a day of “recreation” were at the same time “still sacredly” observing “the Sabbath.” (GC 52). And “amid the gloom of the dark ages” Sabbath keepers “for many centuries” enjoyed freedom to keep their faith in Abysinnia. (GC 577).

And inspiration clearly identifies the origin of the “week.” “Like the Sabbath, the week originated at creation, and it has been preserved and brought down to us through Bible history. God himself measured off the first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time. Like every other, it consisted of seven literal days. Six days were employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh, God rested, and he then blessed this day, and set it apart as a day of rest for man.” (CE 190)

These statements by Ellen White are found in their full paragraphs of context in Appendix B.

Conclusion

The week was being counted before the creation of the time-keeping pieces of the sun and the moon. The Sabbath, like marriage, comes to us from the Garden of Eden. It has always had faithful observers. When light shown on the Law of God after 1844, the Sabbath truth was revealed to God’s prophet, Ellen White, and to God’s movement, the Adventists.

The confusion that the lunar Sabbath ideas have created is not sensible. The arguments regarding “three months in a row” and “all Sabbaths in scripture on the 15th, 22nd, etc.” are only so much misunderstandings and speculations.

The gifts given to preserve the church from such winds have been despised.

A “thus Saith the Lord” for lunar-Sabbath keeping has not been demanded. And it can not be produced.

One organization has offered a substantive reward for a Biblical refutation of the lunar Sabbath doctrine. Appended to that offer was a quote of Luther, “By the mercy of God, I conjure you, . . . to prove from the writings of the prophets and apostles that I have erred. As soon as I am convinced of this, I will retract every error . . . ."

This is a noble position, and a rare one. May it be the sincere position of those who have been erroneously carried away with the pseudo-history of the lunar-Sabbath proponents.

Amen.

Eugene PrewittJanuary 9, 2010

Appendix A

Comments on Passages used as Evidence of Lunar Sabbaths in History

Some studies indicate that Exodus 12 is an example of a weekly Sabbath on the 15th. The argument runs, “The first day of the feast of unleavened bread was on the 15th which was a Sabbath (See Leviticus 23: 4-16). This makes the Sabbaths for the first month (Abib) to have fallen on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and the 29th.”

But look at the passage quoted, Lev 23:4-16. Specifically note verses 7-8. Not only does it make the first day a Sabbath, but it also makes the seventh day of the feast a Sabbath.

In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.What verse seven and eight prove is that not all ceremonial holy convocations that involve rest from work can correlate with weekly Sabbaths. And so the fact that there are also holy convocation seven days apart in the seventh month (the 15th and the 22nd) loses its significance in view of the fact that holy convocations are only six days apart in the first month.

Some studies indicate that Exodus 19 is an example of a month where Sabbaths correlate well with the lunar calendar. The argument runs like this: “Israel left Egypt the night of Abib 15. Three months later, on the very same day, the 15th, they rested before the mount. (See Deuteronomy 16:1; Numbers 33:3; Exodus 19:1-2.)”

But when we read the passage we find that the 15th, and 16th were days of cleaning up and getting ready for a meeting with the Holy God on the 17th. If one of these three dates must be chosen for a Sabbath from the narrative, better the 17th.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. 10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

But really, there is not enough data to make a Sabbath of any day. The argument, as worded above, might lead the reader to think that the Bible associates the 15th with “rest”, but the passage rather associates it with “camping.” As a preparation day, the 15th and 16th do not seem like Sabbaths.

At least one study refers to Leveticus 23:15-16 as evidence of Lunar Sabbaths. This is the argument: “Leviticus 23:15-16 tells us that Pentecost always takes place on the first day of the week on the 9th of the third month. . .”

If this was true, namely that the 9th of the month was always a “first day” of the week, it would be a very strong argument indeed for Lunar Sabbath keeping.

But you may read Leveticus 23:15-16, its context, and even the whole Bible, and you will find no such idea as is asserted in this argument. There is no passage that says that the Pentecost fell on the 9th day of the third month. Here is the passage:And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

Now consider these two verses carefully. Seven Sabbaths plus one day is “fifty days” inclusive. That is seven complete weeks (first day through Sabbath) plus an additional first day. That is exactly 50 days with a continuous cycle of sevens. But interject into that mix two new moons and you suddenly have 52 days. In truth, Leviticus 23:15-16 is significant evidence against the Lunar Sabbath idea.

One study finds evidence of Lunar Sabbaths in the fact that the manna stopped falling on the 16th of the first month. But the passage, Joshua 5:10-12, says nothing about whether the 15th had been a Sabbath. (Indeed, if the 15th was a Sabbath, then the last day of manna falling was the 14th rather than the 15th.)

The same study finds evidence of the 8th being a Sabbath is Exodus 40:2, 17. The argument runs like this: “Aaron and his sons were sanctified for seven days beginning on New Moon Day (See Exodus 40: 2, 17). On the eighth day (which was also the 8th of the month), there was an assembly of the congregation. During the preceding seven days, they were not to leave the tabernacle.”

So the evidence of a Sabbath is found in the “assembly of the congregation” on the 8th day.

What does Exodus 40:2, 17 show? It shows that the first day of the week was the day that the temple was constructed. The remainder of the chapter shows the immense volume of physical work that Moses did in raising up the temple.

2 On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 17 And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.

The priests were sanctified for a week. If we have to assign a seventh-day Sabbath to the story, the best place would be the seventh-day of their temple stay. But even this would be a stretch. The truth is that the story (Lev 8-9) doesn’t have any information about when the Seventh-day Sabbath occurred.

The 22nd of the seventh month was always to be a holy convocation, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. So when Solomon kept it that way in 2 Chronicles 7:8-10, it doesn’t throw any additional light on the question of whether that holy convocation also coincided with the seventh-day Sabbath.

Some find evidence in Esther 9 for a Sabbath on the 15th of the 12th month. But the passage indicates that both the 14th and 15th were kept as special days, and so the passage provides no information about whether the 14th, or the 15th, or neither of those days, was a seventh-day Sabbath.

The story of Hezekiah describes sixteen days of cleaning the courtyard and temple. On the eighth day they started on the temple itself. They finished on the 16th. But there is no evidence here regarding the location of a seventh-day Sabbath. Indeed, it is quite apparent that if some day was kept holy, it was not the 8th.

The healing of the blind man on Sabbath in John 9 is believed to be evidence for a Sabbath on the 22nd of the seventh month. The argument runs like this: “Christ attended the Feast of Tabernacles. (John7:10.) On the last day of the Feast, the 21st of the seventh month, Christ stood and spoke. (John 7:37.) Christ spent that night on the Mount of Olives. (John 8:1.) The next morning, the 22nd of the seventh month, Christ returned to the temple. (John 8:2.) At the temple, Christ healed a blind man. (John 9:6.) The healing of the blind man caused great anger for it was the seventh-day Sabbath. (John 9:14.) This places the weekly seventh-day Sabbaths on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th of the month yet again.”

John 8:1 is, very likely, the 21st of the 7th month. Granted. But that it is the same day as John 9:14 is a great stretch. While Jesus went into the temple in 8:2, he was wandering in 9:1, fifty-nine verses later. By chapter 11:55 you are already all the way to Passover. There is no sensible way to know how much time elapsed between 8:2 and 9:1. Even if John 9:6 did say that the man was healed in the temple it would be no evidence that it was the same day, for:

John 18:20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.

The fact is that we have no way of knowing the date of John 9, even if we do know the date of John 8:1-2. And John 9:6…says nothing about the blind man being in the temple.

Paul’s Journey in Acts 20 is alleged to provide evidence for the lunar-calculation of the Sabbath. The reasoning goes like this: “The seventh day of their stay at Troas was the second day of the month which Paul refers to as the first day of the week.” And so if the first day of the week is the second day of the lunar month, then the month matches lunar-calendar expectations.

The problem is that the math doesn’t work out right. If you count the days inclusively (as Jews always did) then they were in Philippi for the 21st. A plain reading of the passage makes it appear that they traveled on the 22nd (which would be an argument against the Lunar Sabbath reckoning).

But let us assume that they rested on the 22nd and began traveling on the 23rd and only traveled four days. Those days would be the 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th. Now they are in Troas for a week. Let us start that week on the 26th (as Jews would). That week is the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 1st, 2nd, 3rd. And Paul leaves the next morning, the day of the 3rd, the first day of the week.

A first day on the third does not fit at all with a lunar Sabbath reckoning. And as this is one of only three stories in scripture that allow us to decently correlate a day of the weak with a day of the month, this is significant indeed.

Appendix B -- Ellen White’s Comments

Ellen White on Friday

On Friday let the preparation for the Sabbath be completed. See that all the clothing is in readiness, and that all the cooking is done. Let the boots be blacked, and the baths be taken. It is possible to do this. If you make it a rule, you can do it. The Sabbath is not to be given to the repairing of garments, to the cooking of food, to pleasure seeking, or to any other worldly employment. Before the setting of the sun, let all secular work be laid aside, and all secular papers be put out of sight. Parents, explain your work and its purpose to your children, and let them share in your preparation to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment. {CG 528.2}

In many families [on Sabbath] boots and shoes are blacked and brushed, and stitches are taken, all because these little odds and ends were not done on Friday. They did not "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." . . . {CG 528.3}

On Friday the clothing of the children is to be looked after. During the week they should be all laid out by their own hands under the direction of the mother, so that they can dress quietly, without any confusion or rushing about and hasty speeches. {CG 528.4}

There is another work that should receive attention on the preparation day. On this day all differences between brethren, whether in the family or in the church, should be put away. {CG 528.5}

When the Sabbath commences, we should place a guard upon ourselves, upon our acts and our words, lest we rob God by appropriating to our own use that time which is strictly the Lord's. We should not do ourselves, nor suffer our children to do, any manner of our own work for a livelihood or anything which could have been done on the six working days. Friday is the day of preparation. Time can then be devoted to making the necessary preparation for the Sabbath and to thinking and conversing about it. Nothing which will in the sight of Heaven be regarded as a violation of the holy Sabbath should be left unsaid or undone, to be said or done upon the Sabbath. God requires not only that we refrain from physical labor upon the Sabbath, but that the mind be disciplined to dwell upon sacred themes. The Fourth Commandment is virtually transgressed by conversing upon worldly things or by engaging in light and trifling conversation. Talking upon anything or everything which may come into the mind is speaking our own words. Every deviation from right brings us into bondage and condemnation. {CG 529.3}

But still the disciples seemed unbelieving. Their hopes had died with Christ. And when the news of His resurrection was brought to them, it was so different from what they had anticipated that they could not believe it. . . . From eyewitnesses some of the disciples had obtained quite a full account of the events of Friday. Others beheld the scenes of the crucifixion with their own eyes. In the afternoon of the first day of the week, two of the disciples, restless and unhappy, decided to return to their home in Emmaus, a village about eight miles from Jerusalem. . . . {CTr 295.3}

When the Sabbath is thus remembered, the temporal will not be allowed to encroach upon the spiritual. No duty pertaining to the six working days will be left for the Sabbath. During the week our energies will not be so exhausted in temporal labor that on the day when the Lord rested and was refreshed we shall be too weary to engage in His service. {CCh 262.5}

While preparation for the Sabbath is to be made all through the week, Friday is to be the special preparation day. Through Moses the Lord said to the children of Israel: "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning." "And the people went about, and gathered it [the manna], and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it." Exodus 16:23; Numbers 11:8. There was something to be done in preparing the heaven-sent bread for the children of Israel. The Lord told them that this work must be done on Friday, the preparation day. {CCh 263.1}

On Friday let the preparation for the Sabbath be completed. See that all the clothing is in readiness and that all the cooking is done. Let the boots be blacked and the baths be taken. It is possible to do this. If you make it a rule you can do it. The Sabbath is not to be given to the repairing of garments, to the cooking of food, to pleasure seeking, or to any other worldly employment. Before the setting of the sun let all secular work be laid aside and all secular papers be put out of sight. Parents, explain your work and its purpose to your children, and let them share in your preparation to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment. {CCh 263.2}

We should jealously guard the edges of the Sabbath. Remember that every moment is consecrated, holy time. Whenever it is possible, employers should give their workers the hours from Friday noon until the beginning of the Sabbath. Give them time for preparation, that they may welcome the Lord's day with quietness of mind. By such a course you will suffer no loss even in temporal things. {CCh 263.3}

A scene passed before me. I was in our restaurant in San Francisco. It was Friday. Several of the workers were busily engaged in putting up packages of such foods as could be easily carried by the people to their homes, and a number were waiting to receive these packages. I asked the meaning of this, and the workers told me that some among their patrons were troubled because, on account of the closing of the restaurant, they could not on the Sabbath obtain food of the same kind as that which they used during the week. Realizing the value of the wholesome foods obtained at the restaurant, they protested against being denied them on the seventh day and pleaded with those in charge of the restaurant to keep it open every day in the week, pointing out what they would suffer if this were not done. "What you see today," said the workers, "is our answer to this demand for the health foods upon the Sabbath. These people take on Friday food that lasts over the Sabbath, and in this way we avoid condemnation for refusing to open the restaurant on the Sabbath." {CH 489.4}

In the circumstances connected with the giving of the manna, we have conclusive evidence that the Sabbath was not instituted, as many claim, when the law was given at Sinai. Before the Israelites came to Sinai they understood the Sabbath to be obligatory upon them. In being obliged to gather every Friday a double portion of manna in preparation for the Sabbath, when none would fall, the sacred nature of the day of rest was continually impressed upon them. And when some of the people went out on the Sabbath to gather manna, the Lord asked, "How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?" PP 297

Amid the gloom that settled upon the earth during the long period of papal supremacy, the light of truth could not be wholly extinguished. In every age there were witnesses for God--men who cherished faith in Christ as the only mediator between God and man, who held the Bible as the only rule of life, and who hallowed the true Sabbath. How much the world owes to these men, posterity will never know. They were branded as heretics, their motives impugned, their characters maligned, their writings suppressed, misrepresented, or mutilated. Yet they stood firm, and from age to age maintained their faith in its purity, as a sacred heritage for the generations to come. {GC 61.1}

Like the Sabbath, the week originated at creation, and it has been preserved and brought down to us through Bible history. God himself measured off the first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time. Like every other, it consisted of seven literal days. Six days were employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh, God rested, and he then blessed this day, and set it apart as a day of rest for man. {CE 190.1}

In the law given from Sinai, God recognized the week, and the facts upon which it is based. After giving the command, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," and specifying what shall be done on the six days, and what shall not be done on the seventh, he states the reason for thus observing the week, by pointing back to his own example: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." [Exodus 20:8-11.] This reason appears beautiful and forcible when we understand the days of creation to be literal. The first six days of each week are given to man for labor, because God employed the same period of the first week in the work of creation. On the seventh day man is to refrain from labor, in commemoration of the Creator's rest. {CE 190.2}

The spirit of concession to paganism opened the way for a still further disregard of Heaven's authority. Satan tampered with the fourth commandment also, and essayed to set aside the ancient Sabbath, the day which God had blessed and sanctified, [Genesis 2:2, 3.] and in its stead to exalt the festival observed by the heathen as “the venerable day of the sun.” This change was not at first attempted openly. In the first centuries the true Sabbath had been kept by all Christians. They were jealous for the honor of God, and, believing that his law is immutable, they zealously guarded the sacredness of its precepts. But with great subtlety, Satan worked through his agents to bring about his object. That the attention of the people might be called to the Sunday, it was made a festival in honor of the resurrection of Christ. Religious services were held upon it; yet it was regarded as a day of recreation, the Sabbath being still sacredly observed. {GC88 52.1}

To prepare the way for the work which he designed to accomplish, Satan had led the Jews, before the advent of Christ, to load down the Sabbath with the most rigorous exactions, making its observance a burden. Now, taking advantage of the false light in which he had thus caused it to be regarded, he cast contempt upon it as a Jewish institution. While Christians continued to observe the Sunday as a joyous festival, he led them, in order to show their hatred of Judaism, to make the Sabbath a fast, a day of sadness and gloom. {GC88 52.2}

In the early part of the fourth century, the emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a public festival throughout the Roman Empire. [SEE APPENDIX, NOTE 1.] The day of the sun was reverenced by his pagan subjects, and was honored by Christians; it was the emperor's policy to unite the conflicting interests of heathenism and Christianity. He was urged to do this by the bishops of the church, who, inspired by ambition, and thirst for power, perceived that if the same day was observed by both Christians and the heathen, it would promote the nominal acceptance of Christianity by pagans, and thus advance the power and glory of the church. But while Christians were gradually led to regard Sunday as possessing a degree of sacredness, they still held the true Sabbath as the holy of the Lord, and observed it in obedience to the fourth commandment. {GC88 53.1}

A striking illustration of Rome's policy toward those who disagree with her was given in the long and bloody persecution of the Waldenses, some of whom were observers of the Sabbath. Others suffered in a similar manner for their fidelity to the fourth commandment. The history of the churches of Ethiopia and Abyssinia is especially significant. Amid the gloom of the Dark Ages, the Christians of Central Africa were lost sight of and forgotten by the world, and for many centuries they enjoyed freedom in the exercise of their faith. But at last Rome learned of their existence, and the emperor of Abyssinia was soon beguiled into an acknowledgment of the pope as the vicar of Christ. Other concessions followed. An edict was issued forbidding the observance of the Sabbath under the severest penalties. But papal tyranny soon became a yoke so galling that the Abyssinians determined to break it from their necks. After a terrible struggle, the Romanists were banished from their dominions, and the ancient faith was restored. The churches rejoiced in their freedom, and they never forgot the lesson they had learned concerning the deception, the fanaticism, and the despotic power of Rome. Within their solitary realm they were content to remain, unknown to the rest of Christendom. {GC88 577.3}

The churches of Africa held the Sabbath as it was held by the papal church before her complete apostasy. While they kept the seventh day in obedience to the commandment of God, they abstained from labor on the Sunday in conformity to the custom of the church. Upon obtaining supreme power, Rome had trampled upon the Sabbath of God to exalt her own; but the churches of Africa, hidden for nearly a thousand years, did not share in this apostasy. When brought under the sway of Rome, they were forced to set aside the true and exalt the false Sabbath; but no sooner had they regained their independence than they returned to obedience to the fourth commandment. [SEE APPENDIX, NOTE 12.] {GC88 578.1}

These records of the past clearly reveal the enmity of Rome toward the true Sabbath and its defenders, and the means which she employs to honor the institution of her creating. The Word of God teaches that these scenes are to be repeated as papists and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday.

Appendix C – The Days of the Lunar Month

Following is a list of Bible passages that are dated according to their placement in a lunar month. They are organized, as lunar Sabbath proponents might organize them, according to their position in a lunar week. Day “zero” corresponds to the “New Moon” and Day Seven to the Lunar Sabbath.

An examination of these passages reveals that the first day of the month was often quite a day of activity, as was the day after Passover. On a lunar calendar these fall on the New Moon and on the lunar Sabbath.

Day 0

Genesis 8:5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

Genesis 8:13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

Exodus 40:17 And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.

Leviticus 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.

Numbers 29:1 And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.

Deuteronomy 1:3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;

2 Chronicles 29:17 Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

Ezekiel 26:1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 29:17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 31:1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 32:1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 45:18 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary:

Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,

Day 1

Leviticus 23:32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

1 Samuel 20:27 And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day?

Jeremiah 52:6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

2 Chronicles 29:17 Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

Day 2

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Genesis 8:4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

Ezekiel 20:1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

Ezekiel 24:1 Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 40:1 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.

Haggai 2:20 And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,

Day 3

Jeremiah 52:4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.

Day 4

Jeremiah 52:12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,

Jeremiah 52:31 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,

Ezekiel 1:1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

Ezekiel 1:2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,

Ezekiel 8:1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

Ezekiel 29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 33:21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.

Day 5

Esther 3:12 Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.

Esther 3:13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

Esther 8:12 Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.

Esther 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)

Esther 9:17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

Day 6

Exodus 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

Exodus 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.Leviticus 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover.

Numbers 9:3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

Numbers 9:5 And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

Numbers 9:11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Numbers 28:16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.

Joshua 5:10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

2 Chronicles 30:15 Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 35:1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Ezra 6:19 And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.

Esther 9:15 For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.

Esther 9:17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

Esther 9:19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

Esther 9:21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

Ezekiel 30:20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 45:20 And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house.

Ezekiel 45:21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.

Haggai 2:1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,

Day 7

Exodus 16:1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

Leviticus 23:34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.

Leviticus 23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.

Numbers 28:17 And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.

Numbers 29:12 And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days:

Numbers 33:3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

1 Kings 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

1 Kings 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

2 Chronicles 29:17 Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

Esther 9:18 But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

Esther 9:21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

Ezekiel 32:17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 45:25 In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.

Answering Jehovah Witnesses from the NWT (Holy Spirit)

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the EVERLASTING GOSPEL to preach to every tongue...Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the COMMANDMENTS of God and the FAITH of Jesus", (Revelation 14:6-12)